Wildlife

As wild as life gets! That's Lil' Robin the Good, laying blue eggs. Isn't taht what Robin's do? (It's actually Robin laying around with her football, but it looked like a big egg.)

(Unretouched photo.) But! Life has been anything but dull in the sightings (and hearings) of wild animals department. Bob and I went to a really nice backyard Fourth of July party on Sunday and saw a BOBCAT cross the road in the wilds of Beacon Falls. When we got home and let Robin out to run her yayas out, there were BATS! in the sky above; circling and devouring millions of mosquitoes. I love BATS! I hope their populations are recovering from that dreadful white nose fungus.
And then we heard coyotes that night...
And next morning, while watering the vegetable garden, Bob saw a slew (gaggle? flotilla? gobble?) of turkeys crossing the driveway, with both parents and babies in attendance. Minutes after I returned from my walk with Robin, I saw something dive across the fence line and thought it was the neighbor's pesky Siamese cat, but it was a FOX! Maggie came out from the cool of her stall to investigate, but the FOX was long gone.
Robin and I also saw a very large SNAPPING TURTLE laying her roadside eggs last week. I think it must be the same one I've seen several years running now.

Maggie's not looking too wild in this picture. Who can blame her; it's been very hot.
A close up:

Yup! She's snoozing. I think she's being to feel her age. Aren't we all? I'm due to turn 60 in a couple of weeks. I guess I still have a bit of wild life in me!

Oh! The Things You'll See... or Smell

I have been going for a walk every day for years. Generally these walks take place after breakfast and before I do anything else (like work in my studio, go riding, go to work etc). This is such an ingrained habit that if I occasionally can't go early, I spend all day anticipating my walk. I feel it in very fiber of my being.
This winter was a peculiar exception. We had (obviously!) just moved and it snowed what seemed like every day. I wasn't sure where the local hiking trails were located and in any event there was so much snow (as in over my knees) that walking was almost impossible. It was more like wading. To boot, the road was treacherous as it had been plowed so often that it was dangerously narrow and the banks were too high. (People are terminal speeders...)
So I'm happy that the eventual thaw allowed a return to my 14+ year morning ritual. Jules and I have discovered really wonderful places to walk- like at the very end of our road where it turns to dirt and just keeps going. Besides the great exercise, I get to see all kinds of stuff.
Last week I was accosted by the smell of a very dead thing indeed. I am lucky that I interceded before Jules decided to roll in- our taste! the superbly rotting snapping turtle.